The New Midshipman
by Arwen75
Summary: Follows on from Taking Command, Coming Home & Reflections of an Officer. Not book canon at all just my imagination... Written for HUK2005 zine.


Charles Orrock clattered down the companionway to the wardroom – there was a lot to do with commissioning and storing the ship for a long voyage. Although he still had no idea where to. Currently he was the only commissioned officer on board – the previous captain had been sent ashore after the incident when the ship had gone aground due to inattention thanks to him being drunk and sheer bad seamanship. He and the other lieutenants had done their best – but some of the men were sullen and slow to obey orders. So aground they had gone at Spithead – in front of any number of ships bearing senior officers. The first lieutenant has family influence and had been promoted to commander soon afterwards. Hence the reason for the wait for a new captain and first lieutenant. He was very surprised to have been left in temporary command, but apparently the Port Admiral had been impressed by the stories the men had told about how he had pulled the company together to get them out of their predicament.

He had been so proud to have been appointed to a frigate – even if it had meant leaving his previous service with Captain Hornblower and Mr. Bush. Indeed it had been particularly strange without the comforting presence of William Bush. Ever since he had first joined Hotspur he had been serving with Lt. Bush – including during the Battle of Trafalgar when they had both been aboard the Conqueror. However the chance to be second lieutenant in a frigate was too good to miss so he had taken up the appointment. Now he was not too sure that he had made the right decision.

All he could do though was wait for his new superiors, and in the meantime keep the ship going as best as he could. At least she had not been seriously damaged by the grounding - the little damage there was had been repaired within a few days. He was proud of the effort the men had put in for him – and he had told them so. On the whole they were a good crew, but suffered under a bad captain. Hopefully that would all change once the new captain arrived.

"Boat ahoy" Charles jumped at the shout from the lookout that he heard dimly through the open hatches. He grabbed his hat from the table where he had flung it and made his way back up to the maindeck. It could be the new captain after all – and as the senior officer on board he should be there.

"Aye, aye" came the reply from the approaching boat as he emerged onto the deck. Not the captain then, but an officer – could be the new first lieutenant, so he had still better be at the entry port.

As the new officer made his way up the tumblehome and through the entry port, Charles realised that this was certainly not the new first lieutenant. The slight figure raised his hat to the quarterdeck and then said, "Midshipman Fergus MacLean, sir. Come aboard to join."

"Welcome aboard Mr. MacLean – I am Lieutenant Orrock – Second Lieutenant. Your dunnage is in the boat I assume?"

"Aye sir."

Charles turned to the bos'un's mate beside him. "See the midshipman's dunnage is hoisted aboard if you please Mr. Griffiths."

"Aye, aye sir" came the reply from the thickset man – in that thick Welsh accent of his.

Then Orrock called, "Mr. Couzens."

"Sir" came the response from a young midshipman who scurried to his side.

"Show Mr. MacLean to the midshipman's berth if you please."

"Aye, aye sir" came the response from the young midshipman before he turned to the new arrival. "If you will follow me, Mr. MacLean."

As Charles made his way back to wardroom, he reflected on the fact that although their enemies normally called the ships of the British Navy, English – just now at the gangway was living proof that it was not just English who served onboard them, but men from all four nations that made up the United Kingdom, as well as from any number of other countries in and out of Europe. Young Couzens was English, Evan Griffiths was as Welsh as they came, Fergus MacLean was quite obviously Scottish, and as for himself, well he was most definitely an Irishman, and proud of it.

Meanwhile the new midshipman nervously followed Couzens through the ship to their berth. "Your first ship Mr MacLean?"

"Not quite Mr. Couzens. I served three months in Hyperion – while she was anchored in Portsmouth basin."

"Well you will find a frigate very different from a ship of the line Mr. MacLean."

"I can see that already, Mr. Couzens – for one thing she is much smaller."

"Aye and livelier too. Well here we are – our home away from home."

Couzens waved his hand around the small midshipman's berth that served as bedroom, study and eating place for all the midshipmen aboard the frigate. There were already several occupants.

"How many of us are there Mr. Couzens?" came the question from Fergus.

"Well the addition of you makes us up to six – which is maximum for a ship of this size I think. And it is Robert by the way – at least in here. We are not the most formal bunch of people in here – although out there we have to be."

"I see Robert – I am Fergus."

" Now let me introduce the others who are here."

Indicating each man in turn, Robert Couzens introduced Fergus to all the gathered midshipmen, "Gentlemen, meet Mr. Fergus MacLean – our new companion. Fergus meet Mr. Clay – he is the senior of the mess. The rest of this bunch are George Frowd, James Armitage and our junior midshipman Samuel Jacobs. John Libby is on watch – you will meet him later."

Mr. Clay reached a hand out and said, "Pleased to meet you – Scottish obviously?"

"Aye that I am – I am the younger son of The MacLean of Duart and Movern – the Chief of the Clan MacLean. There is a long tradition of seafaring in the family going back to the time of the Lords of the Isles, and I decided to go to sea rather than into the Army as my father would have preferred."

Robert interjected, "Well I can understand that Fergus – I always wanted to go to sea, and never considered anything else. Now why don't you come topside with me as I should be on watch and I can hopefully introduce to the important members of the crew."

As Fergus followed Robert back to the main deck he was looking about him and taking in as much as he could. When they emerged into the open air again, he asked quietly, "What is this ship like Mr. Couzens?"

In the same quiet tone – that could be heard by Fergus, but by no-one else, Robert Couzens replied, "She is a good sailor, but our ex-captain was basically a drunk – and the first lieutenant was more concerned with covering himself, than with the ship. You met the second lieutenant – Mr. Orrock and the third lieutenant, Mr. Gerard is relatively new to the ship, and looks like he only just came from the midshipman's berth so tends to stand on his dignity somewhat. Mr. Orrock is another matter – a good lieutenant and always willing to explain things and help you if you ask. But watch yourself – if you don't ask and things go wrong he has a sharp tongue when required.

However, he has some good stories to tell – he served at Trafalgar on the Conqueror, and then took part in the funeral procession for Lord Nelson. He is always willing to talk about the battle – I think he is proud of having been part of it. "

"As he should be."

"I would agree – I know I would be proud if I had been there. The new captain and first lieutenant are expected today so we had better be alert. I am supposedly on watch with Mr. Libby – and I do not think Mr. Orrock will complain if you join us on the quarterdeck. You can help us keep a weather eye open for approaching boats."

So Fergus followed Robert up the ladder to the quarterdeck, was introduced to the other midshipman up there and then settled down in the way of young men to talk about the ship, and each other – all the time keeping a weather eye open for any approaching boats. When one was spotted by a lookout, Couzens snatched up a telescope, and checked the passengers. He closed the telescope with a snap, and turned to Fergus. "Mr. MacLean. My respects to the second lieutenant, and there is a boat approaching with a captain and a lieutenant in it."

Fergus touched his hat as he knew he was meant to and moved swiftly towards the ladder – thankfully the chatter between him and the other two lads had given him enough to find the wardroom he hoped.

He managed to find his way there and knocked on the open door – he could see Mr. Orrock sat at the table, along with another lieutenant, a man with a weathered face in a plain blue the coat – the Master he assumed, and another man in the scarlet of the Marines. All looked up at the knock, and Mr. Orrock said, "Yes, Mr. MacLean?"

"Mr. Couzens' respects, sir, and there is a boat approaching with a captain and a lieutenant in it."

"Thank you Mr. MacLean. Tell Mr. Couzens we are on our way."

"Aye, aye sir," Fergus replied and turned to make his way swiftly back to the quarterdeck to give the message to Couzens.

As Orrock and the others made their way up the companionway to the main deck, they heard the hail from the lookout, "Boat ahoy?"

The immediate reply of "Lydia" told all the men that it was their new captain approaching, and they increased their pace accordingly. As the lieutenant reached the deck he was thankful to see that Mr. Couzens had got the side party organised in swift fashion, so things were pretty much ready for the arrival of the new captain. The officers were all present and lined up ready to be introduced to the captain – by him Orrock realised as he was the senior officer on board.

As the cocked hat appeared at the entry port, the bos'uns pipes shrilled and both Orrock and the rest snapped to attention and raised their hats. As he did so, Orrock looked to see who the captain was and got a shock – it was his old captain – Captain Hornblower. Which quite possibly meant that the lieutenant in the boat was another old comrade – William Bush. As the piping stopped, Orrock stepped forward, and keeping his face as blank as Hornblower's said formally, "Lieutenant Charles Orrock, sir. Second Lieutenant and temporarily in command. May I present the other officers?"

"You may Mr. Orrock," said the captain. Neither man gave any hint that they knew each other as Charles started with Mr. Gerard followed by Mr. Crystal the Master, and progressed through senior warrant officers. As he did so he was aware of a commotion behind him as the other officer from the shore boat came aboard. As he turned back towards the entry port he saw that he had guessed correctly – it was Mr. Bush who had come aboard as first lieutenant.

Hornblower turned himself and introduced Bush as, "Lieutenant William Bush – the first lieutenant, gentlemen."

There was a general touching of hats, before Hornblower ordered for all hands to be called. Having read himself in, he turned back to his officers and said, "My cabin in fifteen Mr. Bush and Mr. Orrock."

They both responded "Aye, aye sir." Gerard looked disappointed at being left out of the summons, but both Bush and Orrock knew why it was just them. Even if the captain did avoid playing favourites that much, he would still want to hear about the ship from Orrock, and Bush was a friend as well as the first lieutenant so would also need to hear about the state of the ship. Gerard had not been aboard long enough to really know the ship as Orrock did.

Orrock made to dismiss the men, but recalling himself turned politely to Bush who was stood beside him. Touching his hat he asked, "Permission to dismiss the men sir?"

"Granted Mr. Orrock. Who has the watch?"

"Midshipmen Couzens and Libby sir," replied Charles, indicating the two young men as he spoke. " An I believe our new arrival, Mr. MacLean is helping them."

"Very well. Carry on gentlemen."

"Aye, aye sir" came the immediate response, before Orrock gave the order to dismiss the men, and Couzens, Libby and MacLean returned to the quarterdeck to take up their conversation again. Having dismissed the men, Charles turned to William Bush, "Do you wish to go to the wardroom before we are expected in the cabin sir?"

"Indeed I do Mr. Orrock – lead the way."

"Aye, aye sir," and Charles did just that. Once inside that room he turned to Bush, and dropped the formal mask that he had adopted to hide his emotions at seeing his captain and first lieutenant again. However not the formality – until William indicated otherwise, he would still be 'sir'. It was not like the Atropos after all.

"It is good to see you again sir."

"And you Charles – the captain and I often wandered how you were doing after you left the Atropos – and it is still William in here."

"Thank you William. As you can see I am doing alright, other than the problems I have no doubt you have heard about."

"Indeed we have. Now what can you tell me about the Lydia and her crew?"

Back on the quarterdeck, Fergus was listening to his two companions on the same subject – although they were being a little circumspect now there was a captain in the cabin below them. After all who knew what he could here through the skylight. But Fergus was learning a lot all the same and decided that he seemed to have fallen on his feet with this appointment. From everything he had learnt about the provisioning of the ship and the speculations of his companions, it seemed the opinion was that they were being sent off on an independent mission – not attached to a fleet or a squadron. This would be good experience he thought, but could be dangerous. And no-one really had any clue where they could be going to – several places were mentioned including the Pacific, South America, and other places where the war could be taken to the enemy. However this was all just speculation and quite possibly only the captain would know where they were going.

That thought made him ask, "Do you think Mr. Orrock knows the captain and the first lieutenant Mr. Couzens?"

"What makes you ask that Mr. MacLean?"

"Just something in their eyes – and the way the captain summoned Mr. Bush and Mr. Orrock but no other officers to his cabin."

"That is more likely to just be the fact that Mr. Orrock has been the senior officer on board for a while, and the captain wants to talk to him about the ship and the crew – rather like you as the new midshipman are talking to us."

"I suppose so – but still…." Fergus let his mind wander and tried to work out why he was so certain the three senior officers knew each other from somewhere.

His suspicions would have been confirmed if he could see the scene below his feet, as the two lieutenants obeyed their captain's orders.

Hornblower smiled slightly at the entrance of Bush and Orrock – inside he was very pleased to have both lieutenants serving with him again, although he was doing his best not to show that too much on the outside. However for Charles it was another matter.

"It is good to see you and Mr. Bush again sir."

"As it is for us, Charles. Now before we start on the real reason I summoned you here, let us drink a toast." Care fully, Horatio poured wine into three glasses and handed two of them to the other two men, before he raised his and said, "To absent friends."

"To absent friends Horatio" echoed William, and once again, as he had in Atropos, Charles saw the deep connection between his two superiors, and also the bonds that bound them together. Neither of them seemed able to forget the man who had be all accounts sacrificed his own good name for them – and to be honest Charles was glad of that. It proved to him that they were both honourable men – much more so than his previous superiors – and men who would never forget. He felt privileged to witness moments like this – especially as it seemed to be the one time the men became just friends as opposed to the captain and first lieutenant role intervening

The wine having been drunk, Hornblower turned to Orrock and said, "Well what about this ship and her crew Charles?"

"The ship herself – well she is sound and a good sailor sir, but has been badly served. On the whole the crew are a good bunch, if a little wayward at times. We have a fine group of warrant officers, and the midshipmen are all good lads. I am not to certain about our latest arrival – Mr. Midshipman MacLean – but Mr. Couzens seems to have taken him under his wing…."

All three men in the cabin heard the laughter above them, and Orrock said, "Well young MacLean seems to be fitting in with both Couzens and Libby, which bodes well. But back to the ship….." Charles looked as his two superior officers as he talked and thought how happy he was that they were replacing his previous superiors. Now Lydia would show her mettle.

The End


End file.
